Moral Panics and Crack Cocaine By Dimitar Panchev 1 Abstract The aim of this paper is to give an outline of the ‘moral panics’ phenomenon and apply it to understanding the crack cocaine scare which developed in the United States during the mid- 1980s. The analysis will focus on the social and historical context in which the ‘panic’ occurred and the facilitating factors which contributed to its spreading: the conservative political climate, the role of the media and moral entrepreneurs (Becker, 1963), the ‘crack babies syndrome’ as a consequence of the created ‘moral crusade’ against crack cocaine. Moral Panics as a Sociological Phenomenon The first reference regarding moral panics can be traced back to Jock Young and his work ‘The Drugtakers’ (1971) where the author discussed the public concern about statistics, which indicated the an alarming increase in drug abuse. Observing the moral panic about drug-taking, he noted that this led to the establishing of police drug squads and led to an increase in drug related arrests (ibid.). Taking this argument further, Thompson concluded that ‘it highlights the spiral effect produced by the interaction of the media, public opinion, interest groups and the authorities which gives rise to the phenomenon which has become known as a moral panic’ (Thompson, 1998: 7). This kind of interaction is reminiscent of Howard Becker’s term ‘moral entrepreneurs’ and their role in the interpretation of deviance and the application of the label ‘deviant’ to particular types of individuals and behaviour (Becker, 1963). Supported by the media and leading social movements, these types of crusaders aim at regulating moral values and also, which is far more important, exercising social control upon the masses. The moral crusader is ‘fervent and righteous and holding to an absolute ethic; what he or she sees is truly and totally evil with no qualification’ (ibid. : 147-8). 1 © 2015 Dimitar Panchev, e-mail : dimitar_panchev@yahoo.com